The brief was to develop the site for high quality, student residential use. As a result, all units are one-bed studio apartments or two bedroom apartments with shared living area. Ground floor includes a reception area with common room and ancillary facilities. The development is within walking distance of Nottingham University and works on the basis of regenerating an area that includes other student accommodation.
The analysis of the site and its surrounding context informed the design of the building. The site sits in a zone primarily occupied by historic industry buildings and unused land. The proportion and materiality closely looks at The Hickings Building next door, which has also helped to inform the massing.
Based close to Nottingham city centre and a short walk to the main train station, the site is situated on the border of the Broadmarsh area of Nottingham, under which a network of caves were used as tanneries for several hundred years.
The malleable quality of sandstone seen in these caves has been used as inspiration for our design. Deep recesses have been carved from the mass with intricate brick detailing emulating the creative nature of the area. We have considered the historic context of Broadmarsh carefully to inform our colour palette. Red hues characteristically seen in brick warehouses are offset with darker browns and blacks commonly seen in leathers; honouring the tanneries through our proposal.
The form of the design is inspired by the repeated surfaces of the surrounding industrial buildings. The enhanced verticality of the building and recessed top floors mirror the ‘bayed’ façades of the adjacent warehouse. Contemporary detailing around the windows demonstrate a further influence from the surrounding context.